Clutch mechanism.



No. 7I5,640. x f Patented Dec. 9, |902.

E. M. coucH. y f cLuTcHQMEcHAmsM.

(Application led Spt. 10, 1902.

2 Sheetsl-Sheet I.

(No Model.)

No. 715,640.` Patented Dec. 9. |902.

E. M. (200CH.

CLUTEH MECHANISM.

(Minimum man sept. 1o. w02.) (No Model.) 2 Sheeis--Sheet 2.

Witnesses.' Innen/iur:

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UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ELBERT M. COUCH, OF HARTFORD, CONNECTICUT, ASSIGNOR TO THE WHITNEYMANUFACTURING COMPANY, OF HARTFORD, CONNECTI- CUT, A CORPORATION.

CLUTCH MECHANISNI.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 715,640, dated December9, 1902- Application tiled September 10, 1902. Serial No. 122,833. (Nomodel.)

To all whom, it may concern,.-

Be it known that I, ELBERT M. COUOH, a citizen of the United States,residing at Hartford, in the county of Hartford and State ofConnecticut, have invented new and useful Improvements in ClutchMechanisms, of which the following is a specication.

This invention relates to the construction of stop mechanisms for thefeed devices of machine-tools; and it relates more particularly to adevice of this character for arresting the operative movements of thefeed-spindle of a drilling machine and analogous constructions; and theobject of the invention is to produce a mechanism of the class describedwhich shall operate to arrest the operative rotation of a feed-spindleabruptly at any desired point whereby the feed movement of the worktoward the tool, or vice versa, may be accurately gaged'and, as in thecase of its application to a drilling machine, for example, whereby ahole may be drilled to an exact depth.

So far as I am aware in stop mechanisms as now constructed there is anappreciable interval between the movement of a shipperlever to throw abelt onto a loose pulley or to unclutch a clutching mechanism and theac, tual cessation of the rotary movements of a feed-spindle, duringwhich interval said spindle may make one revolution, more or less. Atany rate these stop mechanismsdo not so instantly arrest the feedmovement of the spindle as to permit the attainment of an absolutelyuniform product.

The invention consists in the mechanism constructed and operatingsubstantially as described in the following specification and pointedout clearly in the claims forming a part thereof.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a vertical sectional view of the upperportion of a drillingmachine to which this invention has been applied.Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the same on a somewhat smaller scale.

In the drawings accompanying this application the invention is shownapplied to the spindle Vof a 'vertical drill, though obviously lit isapplicable to any spindle which it may be desired to rotate andstopabruptly. The

word abruptly is used advisedly in this case, it being understoodthereby that the spindle is brought from a state of motion to a state ofrest instantly. It is immaterial in drilling-machines and the likewhether the spindle rotates the work or the drill. In this applicationthe spindle is shown disassociated from either.

Referring now to the drawings, the standard or frame part of the machineis indicated by a, and on this standard is supported a spindle 15, showninclosed in this machine in a hollow head 16. The upper end ofthespindle is threaded, as shown in Fig. 1, and is provided with asuitable nut whereby it may be properly supported in its bearings andwhereby vertical adjustments thereof may be effected.- At the lower endof the spindle there is mounted thereon a sleeve 17, the lower end ofwhich is Iianged and bears against a shoulder formed on the innersurface of a ring 18, which bears against the under side of the head16.l ou the spindle formed by the flange 19 and the lower end of thesleeve 17 is arranged a row of balls 20, which provides for the easyrotation of the spindle against the upthrust brought there against theoperation of the machine, which thrust is directly against the head 16.The sleeve 17 is fixed in its position in the head 16 in any suitableway, and on the upper end thereof there is mounted a driving-pulley 21,which turns freely on said sleeve, there being preferably a ball-bearingfor the pulley between it and the inner end of the sleeve 17, as shownin Fig. 1 of the drawings.

On the spindle 15, above the pulley 21, is the Between a shoulder Worm22, which is rotatable with but slidable on the spindle, the lower endof said worm being provided with a relatively long hub, on which ismounted the friction-disk Y 23, which .is rigidly secured on said hub bya key or otherwise.` The face of this disk lies IOO spiral spring 24,and above the worm there is located a sleeve 25, against the lower endof which the spring 24 bears, a nut 27, screwed onto the spindle,serving as an abutment for the upper end of said sleeve and also as ameans of adjustment for moving the sleeve relative to the spring toincrease or diminish the tension of the latter.

Mounted in the head 16, transversely to the axis of the spindle, is ashaft 28, which is seen in section in Fig. 2. This shaft is mounted inbearings 29, extending from the side of the head 16, to which they arebolted, inward nearly to the center of the shaft, and on the latterbetween the ends of said bearings there is keyed aworm-gear30,in meshwith the worm 22. On one end of said shaft 28 there is nonrotatablysecured a ratchet 3l. On the opposite end of the shaft is fixed a gear32,which meshes with an intermediate gear 33, (shown only in Fig. 1,)which in turn meshes with a gear 34 on the end of a shaft 35 lyingparallel with the shaft 28, and on said shaft 35 is aworm 36, in meshwith a worm-gear 37, keyed to the upper end cf the feed-screw g. Allthis is clearly shown in Fig. 1, and it is only in this figure that thegears whereby movement is transmitted from the shaft 28 to thefeed-screw are shown. As usual, Where transmission-gears are employed inthis manner the intermediate gear 33 is preferably mounted in a slottedarm, whereby some other gear of different diameter may be substituted toincrease or diminish the speed of rotation of the feed-screw. f

The driving-pulley 21, on the spindle 15, is rotated by a belt runningfrom a suitable pulley on a counter-shaft, and the pulley 21, as stated,runs idly on the sleeve 17 until the friction-disk 23 is forced downagainst its upper side by the spring 24, as above described.

The shaft 28, on which is the worm-gear 30, is, as stated, provided witha ratchet-wheel 31 on one end thereof, and supported on the frame of themachine is an elbow-lever 39, one arm of which is adapted to swing intoengagement with the teeth of said ratchetwheel and arrest abruptly therotation of the shaft 28. Fig. 2 shows the driving-pulley 21 inoperative engagement with the frictiondisk 23, and assuming that theparts are rotating in this position the worm 22 will rotate the shaft 28and through its gear connections referred to impart rotary movement tothe feed-screw g, which effects the feed of the drill, as heretoforedescribed.

The sudden engagement of the lever 39 with the ratchet-wheel 31immediately converts the wormgear 30 from a driving member for thefeed-screw g into what is, in effect, a stationary nut, and thereforethe continued rotation of the pulley 21 immediately effects theseparation of the disk 23 therefrom, for the worm 22, acting on theworm-gear 30 as on a nut, lifts the disk 23 out of driving engagementwith the pulley 21. This upward movement of the worm eects thecompression of the spring 24, so that as soon as the lever 39 is swungout of engagement with the ratchet-wheel 31 the spring instantly forcesthe disk 23 again into driving engagement with the pulley 21, the powerof the spring being sufficient to rotate the Work carried by the spindleagainst the drill.

The devices whereby the lever 39 is swung automatically into and out ofengagement with the ratchet-wheel 31 will now be described, togetherwith certain other parts of the machine coacting with thelever-operating means. On the hub of the lever 39, as shown only in Fig.2, there is a spring 40, which operates to swing said lever 39 in thedirection which will effect the engagement of the short arm thereof withthe ratchet-wheel 31, this arm being held out of engagement with theratchet-wheel by means of an arm 41, mounted transversely upon the upperend of a shaft 42, which shaft is rotatably supported in suitablebearings on the side of the frame a. This shaft is provided with aspring 43, coiled around it to effect a partial rotation thereof when itis permitted to do so, and the tension of this spring holds the end ofthe arm 41 against the depending arm of the 1e' ver 39, whereby theshort arm of the latter may be held out of engagement with the ratchet3l. A trip-arm 45 engages the end of the arm 41 opposite to that whichbears on the depending arm of the elbow -lever and normally holds saidarm 41 against the end of the elbow-lever, as shown in Fig. 2. If,however, the rod 46, connected to one end of the arm 45,*be operated todisengage the other end from the arm 41, then the spring 43 will swingthe arm 41 away from the long arm of the elbow-lever and permit thespring 40 to swing the short arm of the elbow-lever up into engagementwith the teeth of the ratchetwheel 3l and instantly arrest the shaft 28.The rod 46 may be operated automatically in any well-known manner toeffect the arrest of the shaft 28. It is obvious that as soon as theshaft 28 comes to a stop all feed movement of the work toward a drill orother tool, or vice versa, must instantly cease.

From the foregoing description of this construction it is seen that theworm-gear 3() plays the double role of a gear for transmitting movementto the train of gears 32, 33, and 34 and through these to thefeed-spindle g; but also upon the arrest of the shaft 28, on which thisworm-gear 30 is secured, its teeth become a rack or represent a nut withwhich the threads of the worm 22 engage, whereby by the continuedrotation of this worm the clutch member 23, secured to the worm, islifted and separated from the pulley 2l, which constitutes the drivingclutch member.

It must be remembered that the cessation of feed movement does notdepend upon the separation of the clutch members, but that thisseparation is consequent upon the arrest of the shaft 28. As the worm 22moves upward the spring 24 is compressed, and upon IOO IIO

the separation of the clutch members the worm will remain in itselevated position, and to start the rotation of the feed screw andspindle it is only necessary to rotate the shaft 42 to again swing thelever 4l against the depending arm of the elbow-lever, and thus by thedepression of the short arm of the elbowlever effect the disengagementof the latter from the teeth of the ratchet 31, whereupon the spring 24will again force the clutch member 23 against the driving member orpulley 21 and impart movement to both the spindle and the feed screw orshaft g.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new is- 1. A clutchmechanism and operating means thereof consisting of a driving member adriven member adapted to be moved into contact with the driving member,a screwthread on the driven member, and a pinion with which saidscrew-thread engages whereby said pinion may be rotated, together withmeans for abruptly arresting the pinion, whereby the latter mayconstitute a rack for the threaded portion of said driven clutch member.

2. A clutch mechanism and operating 3. A clutch mechanism and operating4o means therefor comprising a driving member and a driven member,adapted to be moved and held in operative contact, one with the other; aspring for effecting the engagement of said members, and ascrew-threaded portion on one of said members to impart rotary movementsto another device, and means cooperating with said screw-threads wherebythe latter may, at will, also effect the separation of the clutchmembers.

' ELBERT M. OOUCH.

Witnesses:

CLIFFORD A. PEAsE, JOHN NooNE.

